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New Advances in Novel Polymeric Alloy Geocell-Reinforced Base Course for Paved Roads

Abstract

Seventh Street in Nisku industrial hub of Alberta was in very poor serviceability condition for the
heavy traffic of the industrial area. In 2012, the County of Leduc decided to rehabilitate the road
structure with asphalt pavement on cement treated base (CTB). Typical to most of the roads in cold
climatic regions the conventionally designed CTB work satisfactorily at the beginning but start to
show signs of failure as soon as the first freeze-thaw cycle completes with block cracks and other
forms of pavement distress. To find a reliable solution to the problem the County decided to install a
trial section with a Nano Polymeric Alloy (NPA) geocell-reinforced granular base and compare the
performance over time with the conventional practice of CTB. Commercially available higher
strength geocells made from NPA material were used to reinforce the base course. Two test sections were constructed over a total stretch of 1000m of the road, 500m each of the CTB and NPA geocellreinforced granular base on either side of the railway track. The University of Alberta conducted initial research and monitoring on the test sections. During the following years, non-destructive testing and monitoring of both the sections was carried out by the Leduc County employing independent organizations. Monitoring of the tests sections conducted after consecutive freezethaw season have demonstrated the increasing benefit of using NPA geocells over CTB. This paper discusses the construction, immediate tests and monitoring done over three years on the road and compares the performance based on the findings.

Conference Paper Details

Session title:
INNOVATION IN GEOTECHNICAL AND MATERIALS ENGINEERING
Author(s):
Pokharel, S.
Norouzi, M.
Breault, M.
Year:
2017